While crooks in other countries rely on sophisticated ways to rob ATMs, in Manila they use a simple and apparently effective method: they place a metal bar soaked in the pulp of a Jackfruit.
One property of the juice of this fruit (scientific name Artocarpus heterophyllus) is that it is extremely sticky. In a demonstration of how nature can defeat technology, two Filipino robbers resorted to a metal bar that they smeared with the sticky substance and then placed inside the ATM.
When someone tried to withdraw money from the ATM, it would get stuck on the metal bar inside the machine and the customer believed that the money was not delivered due to a machine malfunction.
Manila police spokesman Inspector Edwin Malabanan told AFP (Agence France-Presse) that the fruit's juice is a very strong glue and that the robbers seemed quite clever with this idea.
After the customer left the ATM disappointed, the two criminals went and took the money. The police received several complaints from the banks that recorded the losses and based on the CCTV footage from the video cameras, they were able to arrest one of the two criminals.
There is no evidence that this method has been used in other places, countries or the world in general, but once this news is published, more such similar incidents may be recorded. Because no electronic device or tool was used, under Philippine law, the thief faces a shorter sentence – six years in prison – compared to the 20 years he would have been sentenced to if he had stolen using a more sophisticated method.
